


Coda

by ArthursKnight



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Beth Greene is alive AU, Beth is alive au, Gen, Post-Episode: s05e08 Coda, Team Delusional, post episode
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-18
Updated: 2017-10-18
Packaged: 2019-01-19 04:19:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12402879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArthursKnight/pseuds/ArthursKnight
Summary: Beth Greene is alive and well





	Coda

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I'm sorry I haven't written anything in a while.  
> Anyway... @motorcyclegrrl on Tumblr requested a fic with the prompt "Beth is alive". I took me a while to write because, as many of you know, I stopped watching at the end of season 3, when Merle died. So I watched Coda, to find out what the hell was going on, and based the story on the end of the episode.  
> Thanks to @faeylinn on Tumblr for the beta!  
> DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THESE CHARACTERS AND DO NOT MAKE MONEY OUT OF THIS WORK. ALL RIGHTS TO THE RESPETIVE OWNERS.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!

“I get it now.” Beth stared into Dawn’s eyes, full of lies and words not said. _She used me_ , the young girl thought, as she got the scissors from her cast and stabbed the officer in the shoulder. Dawn fired the gun, a loud shot that rang in Beth’s ears. She fell to the ground; the white noise in her ears got louder and louder, and blood covered her eyes. Beth realized she was going to die, and a nice peace settled into her mind. Then the pain hit her. She wanted to scream, to ask for help and to say: _I am alive, I must be. It hurts so much!_ but her mouth didn’t open and her limbs didn’t answer to her command.

Blood trailed on the ground next to her, soaking her clothes and hair. She felt it flow and leave her body, relaxing her breath.

Noises of people yelling, a shot. Beth closed her eyes and lost her senses.

  


Daryl stumbled outside of the hospital, Beth in his arms. Tears prickled his eyes. There was a knot in his throat. He could see Maggie falling on the ground, screaming. Glenn was right next to her, holding her in his arms. _Idiot. There are no amount of hugs that could soothe her pain!_ He remembered all too well when Merle died, and could understand her suffering. The only difference was that Maggie had her hopes of finding her sister alive crushed, while Daryl had known he’d find his brother dead when he ran into that damn forest. _That woman shouldn’t have fired the damn gun... I should’ve killed them all._

Rick was in front of him, and the redneck saw him shaking his head to make the others understand there was nothing to do for the girl. Daryl bit the inside of his mouth; there was a familiar pain in his chest as he recalled the walker that was once his brother staring at him with dead eyes. _At least Beth won’t turn._

With a grim expression, Daryl walked towards the rest of the group. Yet, he couldn’t help but think the shot didn’t look deep enough to cause such an instant death. Beth’s flesh was bloody, but he hadn’t seen the bullet enter her head. Something, instincts maybe, told him to look closer.

He adjusted Beth’s slight weight against his chest, and his forehead met hers. Keeping her close with just one arm, he checked the pulse in her wrist. Nothing. He waited, holding his breath. _Please_. No pulse. His hope faltered as fast as it had come. He waited one more second, just to be sure. And he was rewarded. Under his fingertip, the vein’s in Beth’s wrist pulsed weakly. His heart skipped a beat.

“Rick” Daryl screamed, and his voice seemed out of place to him, too loud. “Maggie! She’s alive!” he felt near-hysterical laughter of relief coming from his chest, but tried to control it and it resulted in a coughing fit.

The others looked at him with wide eyes, as if he was going crazy. _Maybe I am_ , he thought. _Maybe I imagined it_. But he could feel the beat, faint yet steady. “She’s alive” he muttered again, repeating it like a mantra.

“Daryl,” Rick approached him and gripped his shoulder. “It… it hurt all of us to see her die, believe me. But she’s gone.” the ex-officer patted him, moving to take Beth from the redneck’s arms and put her on the ground. They locked eyes; Daryl firmly stared into Rick’s, until the man let him go.

“I’m telling you she’s alive… But not for long, if you don’t let me help her!” Daryl growled. Maggie approached them and clung to Daryl’s arm, sobbing. Glenn hugged the woman, moving her away and holding her head close to his chest.

“She’s gone. Please” she begged. “Don’t make it hurt more...” Maggie shook from a new fit of sobs, hiding into Glenn as she cried.

Everybody stared at Daryl, and that made him uncomfortable, but he knew he was right.

They prepared to leave, maybe find a place to bury Beth.

“You really shouldn’t have said that, Daryl.” Rick gulped, drying the tears forming in his eyes with the back of his hand. “She’s not the first one we have lost.”

“I’m telling you, _she is alive_ ” Daryl whispered angrily, hoping Maggie wouldn’t hear him. _And here I was, wishing she would be happy to know her sister was alive._

“No.” Rick shook his head, and this time his voice was flat, stating a fact.

Daryl shook his head, growling. “Damn it, why doesn’t anybody listen to me?” He ran his hand over his face, taking a long breath to calm himself and try to make them understand.

As if Beth had heard them talk, the young woman inhaled deeply and muttered: “Stop it...” She gasped, her eyes flittering open for a second, and then she lost consciousness again.

Maggie screamed, throwing herself on her younger sister. “Beth!”

“My God,” Rick gasped; Daryl could see the officer was trying to find something to say, and that he was at loss of words.

New blood was coming out of Beth’s head injury, building up with the dried patches on her skin and clothes, and the young woman looked pale. But there was no mistaking it; she was alive.

“C’mon!” Daryl grabbed Beth, holding her close. He looked at the hospital, but shook his head. _No way they are going to help us_. “We need to find a safe place and try to patch her up. Move!”

  


Beth took a long breath and opened her eyes. Her head was pounding like she had just been hit, and she groaned in response. “Mmh...” she couldn’t feel her limbs for a second, and her heart beat too fast for her liking, so she took a few long inhales and exhales, feeling her chest hurt less with every second. _What the hell happened?_ The flash of a memory passed in front of her: Dawn shooting her, a sharp, intense pain in her head. She remembered falling on the ground and dying. _Or not._ Beth’s hand reached her temple, where she found a tight bandage. “Ow...” the girl pursed her lips, shutting her eyes and frowning.

  


_Blood. So much blood, trailing from her body into the cracks on the floor._

  


Beth screamed, her eyes flying open, and scanned the unfamiliar, spartan room around her. _Where am I?_ She put her feet on the ground, leaning on the bed as she got up.

Outside, she heard people yell, calling each other. A familiar voice rang in her ears.

  


“ _She’s alive!” the man (Daryl? Daryl!) laughed._

  


The strangers came closer, their voices louder; the room around Beth span, and she found herself on the ground, close to the bed. _Damn it_! She tried to get up, searching for something she could use as a weapon in case she needed it. Nothing. The voices stopped outside the room.

The door opened to reveal Daryl and Michonne, and Beth released a breath she didn’t know she was holding.

“Hey, Beth…” Daryl smiled as he approached her. His shoulders were closed off, tense, and Beth wondered if the man expected for her to attack him. She snorted. _As if._ When Beth made no move, Daryl wrapped her into a warm hug, petting her hair. Michonne looked at them from the door frame, a wide smile on her lips, then turned and left. Beth heard her talk with other people, and she recognized Maggie’s voice. The young woman had the urge to get up and go to her sister, yet she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to walk.

“Hey” Beth mumbled. Her voice was hoarse, and her throat stung, but she forced herself to talk. “What-what happened?”

“You almost died on us” Daryl shook his head, still holding her. “We thought you were dead.”

Maggie, Rick, and Michonne entered the room, smiling and crying. Maggie sobbed loudly, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Beth.”

“Well, I’m alive...” she made a tentative smile that resulted into a grimace when her attention got back to her head injury. Daryl moved away so Maggie could wrap Beth into a soul-crushing hug. The young girl felt her older sister’s tears on her shirt, and her sobs shook them both. Beth wanted to reassure her, to say she was okay, but the words caught in her throat. _It’s good to be here._

“It’s great to have you back” Michonne’s kind eyes scanned her over, searching for further injuries. “Why the cast?”

Beth moved her hand to show it to her, sighing. “It’s a long story.”

“Well,” Rick rubbed his eyes to hide the tears in his bloodshot eyes. “You’ll have plenty of time to tell us.”

“Seems like it.” Beth smiled her first true smile in months. Holding her sister as tight as she could, she mumbled: “I’m glad to be back.”

**Author's Note:**

> Personally, I struggled a lot with this piece, changed it a lot of times before having it beta-ed, and then changed it after too. It made me understand some stuff, and I don't entirely like it, but I hope you did!
> 
> So what did you think? Please tell me, and leave a kudos if you liked it


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